Methods of replicating a three dimensional surface are well known. Many of these methods utilize, as part of the process, a molding apparatus having a housing which includes a plurality of pins are arranged for displacement relative to the housing. The surface to be replicated is brought into engagement with the ends of the plurality of pins and an amount of force is applied to the pins by the surface sufficient to cause the pins to be displaced relative to the housing. Due to this displacement, the ends of the displaced pins, whether the ends which engage the surface or the opposing ends, define a configurational surface which can then be replicated. One difficulty which has been encountered in the use of such molding apparatus is the ease with which the configurational surface may be distorted, damaged or even deleted. Since the pins are mounted to be easily displaced by their engagement with a surface to be replicated, the user must be very careful with the configurational surface bearing mold in that any slight movement of the mold may cause the pins to be displaced again. In order to preserve the configurational surface such that it can be utilized in a molding process, such molding assemblies typically having a means for locking the pins in place after their displacement to define the configurational surface thereby preserving the configurational surface.
Conventional molding assemblies tend to be complicated structurally and difficult to work with. Their construction and operation necessitates considerable operator time and effort for their proper operation. Due to the complexity of their construction, their operation can be subject to breakdowns and oftentimes the end result of their use tends to be disappointing.
There exists a need for a molding apparatus and method of simple construction which can readily replicate configurational three dimensional surfaces while avoiding many of the weaknesses of the known art.